Pakistan Panic Buys LNG at 140% Higher Price to Keep Lights On

Pakistan has secured three very expensive emergency liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes from the spot market to avoid electricity shortages ahead of peak summer demand.

The Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) received four bids on Friday after floating bids to cover a shortfall of 4,500 MW.

The purchases are almost 140 percent more expensive than Pakistan’s long-term LNG supplies from Qatar, which typically average around $7–9 per mmBtu, and also exceed recent RLNG prices notified by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority.

TotalEnergies submitted the lowest bid of $18.88 per mmBtu for the April 27–30 delivery window. Vitol Bahrain offered $18.54 per mmBtu for May 1–7 delivery, while OQ Trading quoted $17.997 per mmBtu for the May 8–14 shipment. Each cargo will deliver about 100 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas supply.

Friday’s procurement followed disruptions to LNG supply routes due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

PLL floated urgent tenders a day earlier as Pakistan faced an electricity shortfall exceeding 4,500 megawatts, resulting in six to seven hours of load shedding.

Facing growing public pressure over early summer outages, the Power Division directed the Petroleum Division to arrange approximately 400 mmcfd of LNG to support 6,000MW gas-fired power plants.

Diesel-based power generation has gone beyond Rs. 80 per unit and is very expensive now, making LNG imports economically preferable despite heavy spot prices.

The Power Division has already warned that any shortage of RLNG supply would increase reliance on expensive fuels, raise fuel cost adjustments for consumers, and increase load-shedding across the country.

Why don’t you mention the country from which this 140% higher rate RLNG is being imported. Dear Saif ur Rahman is sitting tight in Doha